Christensen Fires Tormey

This morning I had a blog lined up that stated the performance of the defense was not up to the talent level we currently have. It seems that head coach Dave Christensen agrees with this opinion because before I could post he fired defensive coordinator Chris Tormey and appointed defensive line coach Jamar Cain as the new coordinator for the rest of the season.

This decision pretty much assures me that Christensen will be back next season. This is the right move as he deserves the chance to oversee the offense he built with a senior QB in Brett Smith and 18 other offensive players returning next year on the current two-deep depth chart.

This move also will probably not do much to fix the defense in the short-term. There hasn’t been a lack of effort by the defense so far this year that ranks 92nd in the country in scoring defense; the fact is they just aren’t a complete unit. The defensive backs and linebackers have the talent and athletic ability to compete in the Mountain West but the defensive line is so void of talent that without a physical presence up front to stuff the run or provide a pass rush there is not much the LB’s and DB’s can do when left on their own.

So where does that leave the Cowboys? This move could light a fire under the defense and they could play at a level that could see Wyoming go 2-2 down the stretch to become bowl eligible. That could be a tough ask though with three of the best offenses in the Mountain West (Boise St, Fresno St, and Utah St) other than our own all left on the schedule.

The firing of Tormey is no doubt to try to help right here right now but I do not think it will pay off until next season. This move will only work out though if Christensen hires the best defensive coordinator available during the offseason and not someone he knows and has a history with (as was the case with Tormey). I know that is how the coaching game works though but Christensen has no room for error now as the next person to receive a pink slip will probably be him.

3 Comments

Kyle Ellis on October 29, 2013 at 7:22 pm

The damn basketball team gave up less points.

ShaneCorppeningII on October 29, 2013 at 8:56 pm

I’m not trying to be rude, but why was Chris Tormey hired in the first place? He has no “solid” credentials that would lead anyone to believe he was ever the right man for the job. in my opinion this could have been avoided had Ave (he has no D) Christensen hired a worthy candidate instead of his buddy. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out the rest of the season. Probably, not very well as were going up against 1, 2, and 3 of the league.

timmy jack on November 3, 2013 at 6:17 am

Christensen is obviously not HC material. He has taken a talented team Offensively from week 1, and through his coaching minions turned them into a desperate team searching for answers in week 10. Improvement you ask, no sir none. Blowout losses to unworthy opponents, Texas State- CSU both teams that should not put up any kind of Offensive numbers. Adjustments, you ask, no sir none. Oh wait, we just fired our DC, Chris Tormey. This makes number 4 interim DC Cain, the next in line to the headman’s inability to provide leadership with his team. Lets face it, Burman is not worthy for his AD job and certainly between Christensen, Schroyer and a host of other issues both are riding the pine waiting for the inevitable to happen. Time to pony up and bring in new direction from the Athletic Department. No committee needs to tell fans this. The sad fact is we will let Christensen stay for Brett’s senior year, continue to have plenty of excuses and watch the demise of this program erode further from public support. Hate to be negative, but the NM Bowl committee and lackluster performance has done me in. Up next Wyo basketball, can this get any worse?